So I got my r7970 a couple days ago and finally got around to fiddling with it.

I was able to pass Heaven (max settings) and 3Dmark11 performance setting multiple times with the following OC:

Core Voltage - 1231
Memory Voltage - 1600 (Stock)
Aux Voltage - +30

Core Clock - 1225
Mem Clock - 1500
Power Limit - +20

Temps are maxing at (during gaming) :

GPU - 63
Mem - 55
VRM - 57

I use RadeonPro with custom graphics settings (Max AA, AF, etc) to play Far Cry 3 and since I overclocked the gpu the game will randomly crash. It will freeze for a second and then I get a white screen where I have to ctrl+alt+del to close it.

I bumped up the Core Voltage to 1237 and this seemed to help for a few hours but then it crashed again, same as above.

I'm wondering, should I be bumping up the core voltage yet again and what is the safe area for max voltage (and subsequently what kind of core clock should I be around at that point)?

or

Should I be bumping the Memory Voltage since I haven't touched it yet?

BTW, this is my first gpu I've ever tried overclocking so while the concept is the same as a CPU, the execution is quite a bit different especially with this card having 3 controllable voltages.

Thanks for your help team.

[edit] Btw I'm still on air because I haven't gotten around to purchasing the rest of the watercooling stuff yet but this isn't a final overclock, just something along the lines of what I'm comfortable with for the time being.Edited by stilllogicz - 12/7/12 at 6:52am

I would try another Core voltage bump and if that doesn't fix it i would back off of the memory clock a bit. That card is well within reasonable temperatures so i think its safe to bump the voltage again. Often times memory can result in issues, however bumping the core resulted in more stability i would try it again. I wouldn't worry unless you hit 80C on the card.

yeah see if running the memory at 1450 Mhz or 1400 Mhz improves stability. HD 7970 has ample bandwidth. core overclocks give maximum performance improvement. memory overclocks are not so important. also you are at 1080p so you don't need extra bandwidth. core voltage can be set to 1.25v. don't worry you are safe as long as core temps are below 70c and VRM temps below 90c.Edited by raghu78 - 12/7/12 at 7:31am

Trying bumping the gpu voltage up to 1.3v (maybe a little more max), and your mem voltage to 1.65v (+.05v) - as long as your GPU is 70C id be comfortable with it. Have you tried custom fan profiles? I bump my fan speeds to 60% at 1250/1775 for games that need it

My comp is in another room so i dont hear the card, and only games like FC3/Hitman/Crysis 2 etc see advantages with the card overclocked

I've bumped up the core voltage to 1.25 and after 2-3 hours or so everthing appears to be fine. No crashing atleast.

Temps are still maxing out in the early 60's which is great and the funny thing is, I have to actually cap the FPS because even with everything max in game and crazy RadeonPro settings, I'm still getting 80+ FPS in 1080p.

OP you are better off reducing core clocks to 1200 Mhz and memory to 1400 Mhz. if thats what it takes for complete stability do it. 25 mhz is not going to do wonders. but the stability gained is worth it. also 1200 Mhz is a sweet spot for Tahiti in terms of performance, power, temps and noise.